Theon is one of the great tragic characters in American literary history.

He was a kid that was taken from his home at an early age. Taken from his birthright to a strange cold place that adhered to none of his customs.

And while the starks will claim that they took him and treated him as one of their own he was always an outsider and always would be.

He was only 16-17 years old when he captured winterfell. He was a dumb kid who was looking for validation from his dad. A validation that couldn’t be earned no matter what he did so he attempted the impossible and he made terrible unforgivable decisions in the process.

Also in the process he was rendered inhuman. Had all but two fingers flayed to the bone and was castrated and raped.

I think Theon deserves more sympathy than people want to give him. He was taken from his home as a hostage as a child. As an adult he was torn as to whom he owed his true allegiance, either his ancestral home that he had never known or his kidnappers who had raised him as part of their family. It's a more difficult plight than people want to give the credit that it deserves.

Your thesis there on book Theon is ridiculous btw. He’s was a selfish stuck up POS teenager who made one of the dumbest decisions I’ve seen. His story of being a forced ward is nowhere near unique and he gets little sympathy from me

quote:Theon is one of the great tragic characters in American literary history.

Theon's Dad is the biggest POS; only next to his Uncle. Yet that was their way of life and it wasn't how Theon was raised.

I really disliked Theon my first watch. When I rewatched the series, I had a lot of sympathy for him. He didn't feel like he was a Stark; he didn't feel like he was a Greyjoy. He always felt like he had something to prove and he lost big because of that.

quote:Your thesis there on book Theon is ridiculous btw. He’s was a selfish stuck up POS teenager who made one of the dumbest decisions I’ve seen. His story of being a forced ward is nowhere near unique and he gets little sympathy from me

Agree. This idea that Theon gets to play the sympathy card because he was taken from his family in the GoT universe is asinine. His situation wasn’t unique, but what was unique is the Starks providing and caring for him the way they did. They didn’t abuse or torture him. And the moment he met his father he should’ve realized it was a lost cause. He had a choice and he chose wrong.